2

Isobel could still hear the sound of clawing from the other side as she pressed her back to the door, gasping air and trembling. She could feel her heartbeat in her ears and temples as it pounded away in time with her haggard breaths. She tried to calm herself and looked around her surroundings, but she could see nothing, just black. As her eyes swept across trying to find any detail in the darkness, they suddenly stopped and her heart painfully lept.

Glowing red eyes appeared fixed directly on her.

As she watched, the eyes rose as if whatever they were connected to was standing to an impossible height. They paused for a moment and then started to advance.

"Shit, fuck." Once again, Isobel scrambled to her feet and tried to blindly find the bolt again. Weird zombies that she could see in the light were better than whatever was creeping in the dark.

Her hands grasped and clawed, but she could not find the bolt and she knew she had run out of time to escape. She screamed frantically as a black hand slammed down on the door, and a voice came from the darkness.

"Why the fuck are you screaming?" Isobel instantly stopped, completely taken aback. This was not the voice of a monster. It was incredibly… well… normal. And though clearly irritated, it did not hold any true malice.

"Uh, fear and confusion, mostly." she panted.

"Well, stop. It's annoying. Priscilla, be a dear."

From across the dark a door opened, spilling light onto the floor and an overhead lamp flickered on. It gave off the pale, puke green tinge of an old fluorescent light. The inky black gave way to what seemed like a storage room, piled with old boxes. Priscilla came into view as a very shapely and barely dressed human rabbit.

Human rabbit?

A woman in a rabbit costume?

That was one hell of a costume.

But no. Priscilla's very pissed off facial expressions made it clear that she was not wearing a mask.

The man (if that could be an accurate description) standing over Isobel was an even more baffling sight. She had to crane her neck as he towered over her at an absurd height. Four arms protruded from his long, lean body; and though he had the head and wings of a moth, strangely, he was wearing an outfit that would be at home on the set of any movie based in the 1970s. Tight white bell bottoms and a black, very low cut shirt with huge collared lapels.

It was at this moment that Isobel finally realized she had, in fact, lost her mind.

"Now then," he continued, crossing one set of arms over his chest while the other set tugged and adjusted his clothing. Glancing at Priscilla, it struck Isobel that she had interrupted something. "Who are you?"

"No one of any importance, really."

"A name," he demanded.

"Isobel," she immediately started to blabber. "You see, I was driving and then something weird happened and I was lost so I started walking and I couldn't find anyone, but then I did find some people, at least I thought they were people, but then they started chasing me and I ran away until I found this door and…"

He put a long spindly finger over Isobel's mouth, "Stop. This is more annoying than your screaming. Who was chasing you?"

"I don't know, like five people, black eyes, sharp teeth."

"Oh, honey," He smiled down at her revealing a brilliant display of fangs. A single gold tooth glinted back at her. "Here we all have sharp teeth. Except, maybe you…" He hesitated and bent closer to her. Isobel suddenly became aware that her mouth was hanging open. She snapped it closed as he continued studying her face. "You have rather blunt teeth, don't you? And strange eyes."

"They're strange?"

He shrugged, "Let's say exotic. I'm sure there is a market for that kind of thing. It sounds like you are talking about the cannibals. They're always wandering around after an extermination looking for easy pickings. Also sounds like you are new around here. The confusion is normal, but don't worry. I and my associates are always happy to help out a poor, confused soul like yourself." He held out a thin, delicate hand. "Valentino."

"Oh," Isobel took his hand rather clumsily and shook it. "Very nice to meet you, I guess."

"Come along then," he said as he swept out of the room past Priscilla. His long red wings trailed behind him like a beautiful cloak. Isobel glanced at the bolted door weighing her options. She could still hear scratching.

She quickly followed the mothman and rabbit woman down a series of halls and up an elevator. It did not take long for her to become disoriented, all the while Valentino spoke on and on, though Isobel was not listening. They went through a door that led into a large, dim room. Here more zoomorphic people were sitting around, all apparently waiting for something. Some were cats and dogs, some were creatures that could not be determined. Priscilla crossed to a corner where a fancy little couch stood. Another rabbit woman lounged on the couch next to a tall, lanky spider.

The room itself was set up like a low budget film studio and it was very clear what kind of movies were being shot there. Along with the cameras and microphones, there was a huge, lavishly decorated bed, tables piled with sex toys, and stations for baby wipes and hand sanitizer.

Isobel stopped short, taking it all in. She sighed and rubbed between her eyes where she could feel a stress headache coming on.

"Fucked up Island of Dr. Moreau bullshit," she muttered to herself. This hallucination was getting out of hand. What kind of weird shit was her psyche into?

Valentino beckoned to her and she followed, shoving her hands deep into her jacket pockets. She wanted to make herself as small as possible, as well as avoiding touching anything.

As she approached, they were met by another man. Not as tall, but very well dressed in a brilliant blue suit and red bowtie… oh, and his head was a flatscreen television, because why the fuck not. Isobel was just happy it wasn't another animal this time.

"There you are," he said, addressing Valentino. "I've been looking for you. It looks like the worst is over now, but we still need to talk about-"

Valentino waved a dismissive hand. "That can wait. First," he sounded quite pleased, his voice pitching up an octave, "look at what I found downstairs. Let me introduce you to… what was your name again."

"Isobel."

"Right, of course. Vox, this is Isobel. She's new." He said all this with a strange, knowing look on his face, which Isobel did not like. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Valentino pulled her in between himself and the walking TV. "Isobel, this is my associate, Vox."

The blue light of the TV screen looked dubiously down on her.

"So what's her deal?" He seemed rather unimpressed. Not that she was trying to impress anyone, but she still scoffed audibly. Valentino sighed and grabbed a nearby floor lamp. He tipped it down to illuminate Isobel's face. At this, some kind of realization came to Vox.

"I see," He said.

"Show him your teeth," Valentino said with a kind of creepy excitement.

"What?" Isobel was getting a bad feeling about all this.

"No need for that," Vox said, putting on the charm. "Any friend of Val's is a friend of mine."

"Uh, we just met." Isobel interjected.

"Like I said," Valentino patted her shoulder in what he thought was a reassuring way. It was not, in fact, reassuring at all. "We here like to take care of newcomers." He winked at her. "So just go with Vox and he will get you taken care of right away."

"You're not coming?" Vox asked.

"Oh, sorry, no. I am behind on the shoot. Priscilla needed some…" He waved his arms around looking for the right word. "Personal direction."

"Yeah, right, whatever." Vox turned his attention to Isobel. "Alright it's you and me, right this way."

Isobel hesitantly followed, and as she did Valentino waved after her and said in a sing-songy voice, "ta-ta, dear. See you real soon."

Across the room, Angel Dust, famous porn star and tall, lanky spider, had been paying special attention to the happenings between Valentino and Vox. He was all too aware how they operated, especially when the opportunity to prey upon a new, confused, and unsuspecting soul appeared. Angel did not like the look of what was going on at all. Normally he would have shrugged it off as none of his business, but he was as of late trying to be a better person. Doing the right thing in this situation would surely win him some points toward redemption, right?

He had some time before his scene was to be filmed, so while Valentino was distracted, Angel discreetly pulled out his hellphone, pulled up his texts, and typed into contacts "Charlie."